Drabek’s detour to majors more of a shortcut

TORONTO — Ask Blue Jays pitcher Kyle Drabek, and there’s only one thing wrong with his upcoming first start against the Astros: location.

“I kind of wish we were the visiting team,” Drabek said.

So there won’t be a throng of friends and family cheering him on from the seats, just a date with the hometown team that employed his father, Doug, from 1993-96.

The younger Drabek, a former ace at The Woodlands High School, is by one definition close to being an ace again, as the Blue Jays gave him the ball for the season’s second game at age 23.

It was the culmination of a journey that included a first-round selection by the Phillies in 2006, a Tommy John surgery in 2007 and his latest trial, a trade from the Phillies to the Blue Jays as the centerpiece of the return package for another ace — Roy Halladay.

An ace for what the Blue Jays hope will be another ace.

Making the most of shot

“When it happened, I really didn’t know what to think, but I was able to talk to my dad,” said Kyle Drabek, who was traded eight days after his 22nd birthday. His dad was traded for the first of two times 20 days after his 22nd birthday.

“He told me just to take the opportunity and run with it. Show them what they traded for.”

That’s still an undefined answer.

After spending most of last season proving his worth at Class AA New Hampsthire, Drabek went home after the Fisher Cats’ season finale only to get the call days later to finish the season with the big club, where he went, as he calls, it “oh-for-three” with a trio of losses but not a bad outing among them.

Drabek earned his first win in his 2011 debut, defeating the Twins, and has since been up-and-down. The raw arm is evident — according to the Blue Jays telecast, he has the seventh-highest average fastball velocity in the American League, bringing it north of 93 mph.

He enters today’s outing 3-2 with a 4.32 ERA and the Blue Jays 7-2 in his nine starts. He walked six in his last start, however, to give him multiple walks in all nine and an American League-high 34 in all to go with 35 strikeouts.

“I wouldn’t say he’s wild,” Blue Jays manager John Farrell said. “He’s missed to his arm side a little bit. I think sometimes it’s effort-related where he’ll overthrow some pitches and just miss. But the one thing he’s done repeatedly is not let that snowball into a big inning.”

Drabek is happy and comfortable among a new set of teammates and a new organization that, unlike his old one, has a commitment to young pitching — Toronto’s six starters this year are 26, 26, 26, 26, 24 and 23.

Life on the fast track

The Phillies, on the other hand, were building a rotation of veterans to win now. So, as jarring as the trade might have been at the time, Drabek realizes what it did for his career.

“It helped me get to the big leagues faster,” Drabek said. “With the Phillies starters right now, they’ve got some great guys and it would be a little bit harder.”

And today, instead of pitching at Reading or Lehigh Valley, he’ll be pitching on the big league mound against the team he once more than just cheered for at the Astrodome.